J. The Jewish News of Northern California has won 18 Rockower Awards from the American Jewish Press Association for work published in 2021. This represents the largest number of first- and second-place national awards for articles written by our staff writers we have received in the 41 years that these awards have been presented.

The awards — six first place, eight second place and four honorable mentions — were announced this evening during the AJPA annual conference in Atlanta, which was held in person for the first time in three years.

In addition to receiving second place as the best Jewish newspaper in the United States for the second year in a row, of particular note are our awards for investigative or enterprise reporting, editorial writing, news reporting, feature story writing and writing about social justice issues.

First-place awards

Enterprise/investigative: “Nazi-looted art in San Francisco museums” by Gabriel Greschler

Interfaith relations: “Outpouring of Jewish support follows S.F. mosque vandalism” by Gabe Stutman

Social justice and humanitarian work: “‘We have the obligation to help’: Married doctors recognized for life-saving work in Mali” by Dan Pine

Sports: “‘Battling Beauty’ of billiards gets nod from NorCal Jewish Sports Hall of Fame” by Gabe Stutman

Jewish heritage and Jewish peoplehood in Europe: “From Germany to America: A family’s legacy preserved in porcelain” by Alix Wall

Arts review/criticism: “African refugees in Israel, now actors, relive trauma in ‘Asylum City'” by Esther D. Kustanowitz

Second-place awards

General excellence, best newspaper

Editorial writing: “Ben and Jerry’s should have thought harder before starting their new ‘cold’ war,” “S.F. school board must prioritize reopening schools, not renaming them,” and “Ethnic studies: a meaningful victory in a complicated fight”

Politics/government: “Facing recall, Newsom wins support from Jewish caucus” by Gabe Stutman

Feature writing: “Why some right-leaning Jews are leaving California for redder pastures” by Andrew Esensten

Deadline/breaking news: “Tech companies block Leila Khaled event at SFSU for a second time” by Gabriel Greschler

Climate change/environmentalism: “Jewish winemakers press forward on a warming planet” by Maya Mirsky

Health care: “A Lost Year: Teen mental health during the pandemic” by Gabriel Greschler

North American Jewish history: “This S.F. Jew stood up to anti-Asian hate in 1885 — and got booed” by Gabriel Greschler

Honorable mentions

News story: “A Carmel school refused to allow an inflatable menorah at a school holiday celebration. A Jewish parent filed a lawsuit.” by Gabe Stutman

Antisemitism: “Stanford therapists allege hostile climate for Jews in the workplace” by Gabe Stutman

Sports: “‘Fun fact’ about Steph Curry’s Hebrew tattoo makes a splash on Twitter” by Andrew Esensten

Personal essay: “How Stephen Sondheim helped me find my gay, Jewish sensibility” by Rabbi Irwin Keller